“Living with Hope”

Jeremiah 33:14-16

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Introduction: You’ve probably heard the phrase, ‘Hope springs eternal.’ It really is a good phrase, because the idea behind this phrase is that you never stop having hope in your life. Hope is an interesting concept, because it leads us to wish for something we don’t have; to want something we think we need. Because of this we need to be careful where we place our hope.

All too often our hope is in something that probably won’t come to us: talents we don’t have; large sums of money; retirement at an early age. We hope for these things because we think they would be good for us. But in hoping for them, it keeps us from accepting where we are and what we do have; it keeps us from enjoying the life we have now! Other times our hope is in things that isn’t the best for us to have: certain relationships that would be toxic; or a job that pays a lot of money, but doesn’t fit our skill set. We hope for these things because we think they will be good for us, and then get upset if God doesn’t give them to us. We must remember that God has a plan that is best for us, and has a greater perspective than we do. We need to trust in what God is doing and will do in our lives.

On this first Sunday of Advent, the Sunday of hope, let’s spend some time looking at how we can “live with hope” in a way that is productive and beneficial.

I. Hope Is… (Ps. 118:24; 2 Pet. 3:9; Is. 40:31, 43:1-3; Gen. 1:10; Jer. 33:16)

A while back we asked people to finish the statement “Hope is….” And it was

interesting to see what people think that hope is.

a. What people had to say- This is what some of the people had to say:

“Hope is….something within you; like seeing the glass as half full.” “Hope is for the future; for peace and harmony in the world.” “Hope is beautiful.” “Hope is success.” “Hope is ….trust; if you don’t hope, you can’t trust anything.” “Hope is….an answer.” “Hope is ….necessary.” “Hope is…finding out there is a medical treatment for your disease.” “Hope is….what makes life worth living.”

Some people understand hope, but many people don’t really have an understanding of what hope is, especially the hope of the Bible. And so consequently they place their hope in the wrong thing. This morning, it is my desire to help you to have a good sense of what God wants us to understand about hope; especially the hope that Christmas brings to us.

God calls us to be people of hope. This is because the world is so unpredictable, and filled with so many challenges. As we go along in life, we will find that our lives are often filled with disappointments, struggles, and heartache. God wants us to understand that hope really comes from our giving ourselves over to God, and letting God lead us through the challenges.

We are told in Isaiah 43:1-3a, “But now, this is what the LORD says— he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: ‘Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. ² When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. ³ For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior…’”

This passage reminds us that God, the One who formed us, and the One who redeems us from our sin, knows us by name. The hope of Advent is that God is a personal God, a God who cares deeply for us, and who cares what is going on in our lives. When we go through tough times (pass through the waters, walk through the fire) God will be with us and watch over us and get us through!!

b. Situations of hope- I want you to imagine with me some things that

might remind us of hope: The first thing might be a sunrise; the HOPE of a new day. We are told in Psalm 118:24- “This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”/ Hope is understanding that every day is a new day to make a difference with our lives, and in the lives of others. It doesn’t matter what has happened in the past, today is a NEW DAY! Hope in this way helps us to keep a fresh perspective on life.

Idea #2- When you see a clock or a watch you might think of hope: the HOPE of a better time. 2 Peter 3:9a says,- “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness…”/ When we hope on the Lord to intervene in our lives, to answer our prayers, we often expect it to happen quickly. Hope is understanding that God will work His will and way in our lives; and He will do it in His timing! In hope, we can know that God has a better time for us.

Idea #3- Let’s say you are driving by the ocean, that too can remind you of hope: HOPE that is powerful and expansive. The prophet Isaiah tells us in Isaiah 40:31- “But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength…”/ There are many things in life that can tear us down and make us feel weak. But in the Lord, when we hope on Him, we can know that His power is at work in us, and that “all things are possible to those who trust the Lord.” Just as a good meal can strengthen us physically, so also as we partake of the Lord, we can be renewed spiritually. Sometimes I am just sitting there, and this wave of hope comes upon me. It energizes me spiritually, which affects my mind, and ultimately gives me a positive outlook on my situation and my life!

Idea #4- The mountains can also bring us hope; the reminder that HOPE stands tall and strong. In Genesis 1:10 we read, “God called the dry ground ‘land,’ and the gathered waters he called ‘seas.’ And God saw that it was good.”/ On the dry land God also placed the mountains that stand tall. Hope is knowing that God is above all, and beyond all, and over all, and that God can lift us up and do good things in our lives, even through the bad. Hope is knowing that God is strong and secure as are the mountains before us.

Idea #5- Of course we would be remiss in this time of advent if we didn’t think of the baby Jesus; the HOPE of new life; Jesus’ birth. Jeremiah 33:16 says: “In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. This is the name by which it will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness.” It is because God took on flesh, in Jesus Christ, that we have the hope of new life. Without Christ, we would still be lost in our ways; we would have no hope. In Jesus, we have hope of a better life every day, because we have a wonderful example of how to live; the example that Jesus gave us in the life He lived.

II. In Those Days- (Jeremiah 33:14-16)

a. Fulfill my promise- As we look a little more at the main text of the

morning, Jeremiah 33:14-16, we see the passage starts off with God reminding us that He will fulfill His promise. And what God says that He will do, God will do. It is not like your promises, or my promises. Because if we think about it, we realize that we have all broken promises. Maybe we told our children we would do something with them, or for them, and then something came up that we couldn’t control, and we couldn’t fulfill our promise. Maybe you told a friend you would be there for them, but when they really needed you, you couldn’t be there for them. Maybe you made a commitment and then had to break this commitment. We fail to keep our promises all the time!

However, if God says He will fulfill His promise, He will fulfill it. So when we place our hope in God, we know that our hope is secure, because what God says will happen, will happen. In 700 B.C. the prophet Isaiah prophesied this in Isaiah 7:14, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” We see in Matthew 1:20-23 that this prophecy, this promise, comes true. We see also in Isaiah that it is prophesied that Jesus will be from the house of David, and the tribe of Judah. If you read the genea-logy of Jesus in Matthew, chapter 1, you see this promise come true! I could go on and on, telling you about prophecy after prophecy that makes a promise from God, and is fulfilled through Jesus Christ. WHAT GOD SAYS HE WILL DO, HE WILL DO.

And what is the promise found in our Jeremiah passage this morning?

b. A righteous branch- The promise is seen in Jeremiah 33:15- “In those

days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David's line; he will do what is just and right in the land.” This is a promise of the Messiah to come. This is a promise that was fulfilled in the coming of God in the flesh, in the person of Jesus Christ. This is a promise telling us that when Jesus came, He would bring justice and righteousness to the land. Now the problem was that when Jesus came, the people thought the justice would be Jesus overthrowing the Romans and setting the Jews into power. The Jews would then be the ones who would bestow justice and would be in the right. But the justice and righteousness that Jesus brought was different: this justice and righteousness starts in how we as followers of Christ, are to treat others justly, and how we, as Jesus followers, are to act rightly toward one another. Ultimately, Jesus has made it so that justice and righteousness would ultimately be victorious when this world comes to an end. The justice and righteousness refers to God judging the world. It is through Christ that we will be made right with God, and have any punishment against us removed.

If you think of a branch, you can understand that shoots grow off of that branch. Of course the fruit that the branch bears is in line with what kind of tree it is. An olive branch will bear olives; a fig branch will bear figs. Jesus will bear the fruit of righteousness and justice in His people. SO, as the people of God, we are called to live justly, and with righteousness. In Christ, we can bring these qualities to our world.

c. Will be saved- But ultimately justice and righteousness would be seen

in Jesus’ saving His people; all those who believed in His name. As we are told in John 1:12- “But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God.”/

EXAMPLE- A new show that Tami and I are enjoying is “Blue Bloods,” starring Tom Selleck. Tom Selleck is the police commissioner in New York, and his family, the Reagans, have a number of people who are policemen. While Tom Selleck does a wonderful job in the show, the show is also enjoyable because of the story lines. In one particular episode a child is kidnapped. Of course we know that the first 24 hours of a kidnapping are crucial if the police are going to find the child. On top of this, the child was diabetic and needed her medicine soon. So the police start talking to people and trying to gain clues. Someone saw a van, and they were able to track the van to a suspect. After much questioning of the suspect they were able to ascertain the whereabouts of the child, and they were able to save her and get her the insulin that she needed!!

Shows like this are spellbinding because we all want to see the child saved. By gaining the truth through the clues they received, the police were able to understand where the child was, and she was saved. When people fail to see the truth, they cannot believe and be saved. In Christ, we have the whole truth. Christ gives us hope, because we have truth Himself before us.

And so we see that the hope comes in trusting in God, through Christ, whose promise is sure. The hope comes from seeing the promise come true in Jesus Christ. The hope is experienced when we believe in Jesus, and live in the justice and righteousness that Christ sets forth for us. The hope is known in re-living time and time again, the birth of Jesus Christ, which secures for us all that God has promised to come true.

Conclusion: In the book of Hebrews, chapter 11, verse 1 we are told: “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Without faith we cannot have the right kind of hope, because what we hope for is worldly, sinful, and selfish. With faith, we can indeed place our hope in God.

Story: The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart, p. 274, “ A Missionary…” There is a story of a missionary who was sitting at her second-story window when she was handed a letter from home. As she opened the letter, a crisp, new, ten-dollar bill fell out. As she was reading the letter, her eyes were distracted as she saw a shabbily dressed man leaning against a post. Thinking he was more in need of the money than she was, she put the bill in an envelope, wrote on it “Don’t Despair,” and dropped it out the window. The man picked up the envelope, looked up, tipped his cap, smiled, and walked away. THE NEXT DAY there was a knock at her door. When she opened the door there standing in front of her was the shabbily dressed man. He handed her a roll of bills. Quite surprised she asked: “What is this?” To which he replied: “That’s the sixty bucks you won, lady. Don’t Despair paid 5 to 1.”

Greater than receiving some extra money, we don’t need to despair because we have hope in and through Christ. Jeremiah 33:14 starts off with the words, “In those days…” Of course this is Jeremiah talking about a future event in which the people place their hope. Every Advent season, we have the wonderful opportunity to live “in those days.” We live in the days of God choosing to take on flesh, and live among us. We live in the days when we can remember from of old how God has shown His love to us; the love of presence. We live in the days when we can truly receive hope, because our hope comes from God Himself. And so as you live in these days, from now until Christmas, I pray that you would not let the world around you/ overwhelm you/ with the secularism of Christmas. I pray that you would hope for what Christmas truly brings: joy, love, peace, and God’s presence in your life. Amen.